Warning to those with weak stomachs:
The ever wonderful no-bid contractors Halliburton/KBR needed to dispose of massive amounts of military waste in Afghanistan and Iraq. Without proper incinerators they used open pits to burn among other things such toxic things as batteries, pesticide containers, medical waste including body parts, styrofoam, plastic, asbestos, wood, rubber, animal carcasses, entire trucks and human waste.
The smoke was so thick that sometimes visibility was cut to a few yards, surly an accident waiting to happen. The smoke filled the troops living/working quarters. Stray dogs could be seen by the troops coming out of the pits with human body parts.
Class action suits have now been filed in 10 states for damages for troops who were exposed to this toxic nightmare suffering from respiratory problems, chronic infections and cancer.
http://www.democraticunderground.com...
KBR-Halliburton claim that they are operating within the DoD regs. A call came for Congress to step up and actually support the troops.
Maybe Rep. Tim Bishop [D-NY] and Rep. Carol Shea-Porter [D-NH] had good intentions when they proposed this legislation to 'protect the troops'. But the bill that the House passed falls woefully short. BOHICA, 'cause it is an insult and it solves nothing that I can see.
To protect the troops these so concern congresscritters have decided that toxic burn pits can be still be used if the operation is not scheduled to last longer than a year.
I can hear it now, 'cause I've heard it before. Just a short little action, Mission will be Accomplished in less than a year allowing these no-conscience no-bidders to burn, baby, burn on the cheap.
Then it will be just a few more months... Or heaven forbid that they base the 'less than a year rule' on rotations that last just a few days short of a year by just renaming the operation every few months. Like Operation Iraqi Freedom-1, OIF-2, OIF-3, OIF-4, OIF-5, OIF-6, OIF-7....
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com...
Surely, the DEMs in Charge can do better than this. You'd think.